


Swimming Lessons

by Bookworm1063



Series: CO Countdown 2020 [13]
Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Carry On Countdown (Simon Snow), M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:28:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27943022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookworm1063/pseuds/Bookworm1063
Summary: “Hi,” I say. I stop at the edge of the pool, and the boy pulls himself out of the water.“Hello,” he says. “I’m Baz.”“Simon,” I say. “Um. Nice to meet you.”Simon and Baz both spend their summers breaking into one of the local pools.
Relationships: Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch/Simon Snow
Series: CO Countdown 2020 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2026988
Comments: 6
Kudos: 62
Collections: Carry On Countdown 2020





	Swimming Lessons

**Simon**

**Year One—13 Years Old**

There’s a public pool a few blocks from my house. I don’t actually know how to swim, but it’s one of my favorite places.

During the spring and summer, when it’s open and the pool is full, I’ll sneak out of my house after my father goes to bed. Even in the fall and winter, I’ll sit on the edge of the concrete pit and swing my legs over the side.

It’s early summer now. The past few nights I’ve come here, it hasn’t been empty.

There’s a boy with shoulder-length black hair who sneaks in after the pool closes, the same way I usually do. He gets here before me. The first night, I was just sliding through the gap in the chain-link fence when I heard him jump in. I watched him for a while, half-hidden by the fence and its shadows.

The second night, the same thing happened. And the third. And the fourth. It’s been over a week now.

Tonight, I’m determined to talk to the other boy. I slip past the chain-link fence, and he’s already there, swimming laps around the pool.

I tiptoe around the deck, staying just far enough from the edge to avoid falling in if I slip.

The boy kicks off against the opposite wall, sees me, and freezes. He treads water at the end of the pool, waiting for me to approach him.

“Hi,” I say. I stop at the edge of the pool, and the boy pulls himself out of the water.

“Hello,” he says. “I’m Baz.”

“Simon,” I say. “Um. Nice to meet you.”

Baz nods. “I was wondering when you’d introduce yourself. I knew you were hiding over there.” He nods to the gap in the fence.

“Oh,” I say. “Sorry. Was that creepy?”

“A little bit,” Baz says. “Were you going to get in?” He gestures to the pool.

“No,” I say. “I don’t actually know how to swim.”

“I’ll teach you,” Baz says. “Come on. This is the shallow end. You can stand.”

I jump into the pool in my tee shirt and jeans. Why not?

**Year Three—15 Years Old**

Baz’s family has been back in town for almost a week. They stay in an old mansion at the end of a long drive, only a few blocks from my house, every summer. I haven’t seen Baz at the pool yet.

Tonight, I’m here alone, splashing around in the shallow end. I’m still not a great swimmer, even after two summers of Baz’s lessons, but I can stay afloat.

“Snow.”

I look toward the edge of the pool, and Baz is standing there. He slides into the water and swims over to me.

“I was wondering when you’d get here,” I say.

“Sorry,” Baz says. “I couldn’t sneak out sooner.”

“It’s okay,” I say.

Baz smiles and swims a little away from me, toward deeper water. “Come on, Snow. It’s been two years. I think you’re ready for the deep end now.”

I hesitate, lingering in the safety of the shallow end.

“I’ve got you,” Baz says.

I follow him into deeper water.

**Year Five—17 Years Old**

“Alright, Simon. I think you’re ready for the diving board.”

I look at the board. It’s not that high above the water, not really. And it’s not like Baz is asking me to do a backflip off it. All I have to do is walk into the water.

Baz is standing at the edge of the pool, hand held out to help me up. I take it and follow him around to the ladder, going up to the lowest board (there are three in total, all varying heights).

Baz climbs up, and I follow him. He scoots out to the edge.

“I don’t know,” I say, retreating a few steps back towards the ladder. I remember reading somewhere that if you hit water from high enough, it’s the same as hitting concrete. I don’t think we’re high enough for that, but better not to take any chances.

“You’ll be fine, Snow. You can swim,” Baz reminds me. Then he turns and swan-dives off the board. He’s hit the water before I have a chance to gasp, and resurfaces a few feet away. He laughs, pushing his hair back out of his face, and I catch myself staring.

“Come on, Simon,” Baz says. “You can do this.”

I run towards the end of the board, and then there’s nothing underneath my feet. I’m flying until I hit the water with a splash, right next to Baz, and now we’re both laughing. I should look somewhere else, somewhere that isn’t at him, but he’s looking at me, too.

**Year Seven—19 Years Old**

I wasn’t sure Baz would be back this summer. We finally exchanged mobile numbers last year, right before we both went off to uni—he’d never called to say he wouldn’t be here. But I was still worried.

He’s waiting by the pool when I get there. “Hello, Simon.”

“Hi, Baz.”

“Are you ready?”

“Yeah.”

Baz and I go around to the highest diving board, and I jump in without hesitating. We race back and forth across the pool, splashing each other and cheating when necessary. At one point, Baz disappears under the water, and resurfaces yards ahead of me.

“You cheated,” I complain when I finally catch up.

“No, I didn’t,” Baz says. “I just swam.”

“You didn’t even stop to breathe!”

Baz shrugs (I think he picked up the habit from me. I have some kind of feeling about that).

“Watch,” he says, and then he’s under the water. We’re in the deep end, so he sinks for a little while. A thin trail of bubbles rises above him.

After close to three minutes, he’s back.

“How?” I ask. He shrugs.

“Lots of practice. I told you I got a swim scholarship for university, right?”

“Yeah. That’s why?”

Baz laughs. “It’s why I always beat you.”

He sinks back under the water again. I hesitate. I can’t hold my breath like Baz can, so this isn’t going to last very long, but I follow him anyway.

It’s a different world under the surface. I knew that, but I’ve never lingered here the way I am now. I see Baz, just in front of me. I reach for him.

Our eyes meet. Mine are stinging from the pool water, but I see him nod.

I wrap my arms around him and kiss him. I’ve only ever kissed one person before, so I’m not sure if this is a good kiss. Then I decide I don’t care, because it’s Baz.

He doesn’t pull away from me, but he kicks toward the surface and treads water so we can breathe. When he does move, it’s only a few inches away. He’s holding my hand; I’m not sure when that happened. The whole thing was so fast, I’m not sure any of it did happen.

“So,” he says. “Did you mean to do that?”

“Yeah,” I say. “Course I did.”

“Alright,” he says. “What do we do now?”

I shrug. “We’ll figure it out.”

Then I kiss him again.


End file.
